I am so excited to present my interview with one of my favorite writers; Kerry Greenwood! I have spent hours both reading and watching her creation; Miss Phryne Fisher in the books and the tv series; Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries. So it was cool to ask her some questions that have been on my mind about my favorite characters and how they came to be…

1. Thank you for taking part in my Author Q and A, to start could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

I was born in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. I have a degree in English and Law from Melbourne University and was admitted to the legal profession on the 1st of April 1982, a day which I find both soothing and significant.

I have written a number of plays, including The Troubadours with Stephen D’Arcy, and has worked as a folk-singer, a factory hand, a director, a producer, a translator, a costume-maker, a cook, and also qualified as a solicitor to her great amusement. I embroider very well, cannot knit, and has flown planes and leapt out of them (with parachute) in an attempt to cure her fear of heights. I can detect second-hand bookshops through walls.

My first book Cocaine Blues, a murder mystery set in the 1920s, was published by McPhee/Gribble in 1989 and, much to the author’s astonishment, was a success. The elegant and irrepressible sleuth, Phryne Fisher, has since returned (almost annually)

2. I love both your books and the TV series that was based on your books, was there one thing that just inspired it? Was there a light bulb moment for you, for Phryne?

I was sitting on a tram on my way home from seeing a publisher who didn’t want what I’d offered and want a crime move instead. I said it must be historical and on my way home Phryne just came to me. It was as if she got on the tram with her beautiful hair cut and fabulous fashion sense and her gun, and sat next me.

3. Phryne is such a great role model for girls for empowerment and self determination, when you created her did you have that in mind or was it just a happy outcome?

It was always my intention. I am a feminist and everything I wrote comes from that intrinsic fact.

4. DI Jack Robinson is really a lovely man in the novels but he is so different in the series, Nathan Page’s performance as Jack Robinson is very compelling and exciting were you a part of the process for the changes in his character?

Yes always. He had to be handsome for TV and I had no objection. He also had to play a more major role in Phryne’s investigations because that’s how TV series works. I was also happy about.

5.Essie Davis is amazing as Phryne Fisher, it was the first thing that attracted me to series because she gives such a fun and dynamic performance. When you first saw Essie on film what was your reaction ?

I had been trawling through hundreds of audition on video. And they were all wrong. And then suddenly there was Essie – and it didn’t a bit that she had long hair and did not look like Phryne but she sounded like her and was immediately perfect. The exact same thing happened when I saw Nathan and Ashleigh. They were perfect for Jack and Dot.

6. What was it about 1920’s that inspired you to place your novels during that time?

It was when women started to do all sorts of things they’d not done before – partly because the world was changing and partly because they were fewer men after World War I. Women were lawyers, doctors, they could drive cars, ride motorcycles and fly aeroplanes. It was a fascinating time.

7. How do you feel about the fan response to the TV series? Overjoyed and a bit humbled as I never expected it to happen or to have such a great reaction. And of course it’s brought more people to my books.

8. You were recently at the launch for the coloring book, was it fun? How do you feel about your characters in a coloring book?

The launch was fun especially as Essie and Nathan were both there. We had a lovely day. And I love colouring books so who would’t want to colour in Phryne’s clothiers.

9. There is a lot of talk about the next project in view is a movie, are you excited?

Of course, I jump up and down a lot.

10. Do you have a new novel coming out or any other events that your fans should know about?

I have started to put together the book fair, it looks great! So many different types of books and a few surprises like DVDs too. Our give away is going to be amazing, it will be a trivia contest like … Continue reading →